Science & Wisdom LIVE: Recent Episodes
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Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to find new solutions to the problems of contemporary society. Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Researcher and contemplative practitioner Juan Santoyo explores meditation's role in improving lives. This insightful talk delves into how meditation extends beyond brain changes to enhance psychological well-being. Juan discusses the clinical relevance of meditation, its benefits, and the importance of personalised approaches. Learn about the intersection of meditation, equity, ecological justice, and the convergence of Buddhist and indigenous knowledge.
Discover how contemplative practices can address social, political, and ecological challenges in our interconnected world. This discussion highlights the evolving research themes in meditation, emphasising accessibility and diverse perspectives. Join Juan in understanding how meditation can significantly improve our lives, foster community, and support ecological well-being.
Learn more about Juan Santoyo
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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In this discussion, filmmaker Paul Howard delves into the Profound Interconnectedness of the Universe and the connection between science and spirituality through the life and ideas of David Bohm, a pioneering quantum physicist. Paul recounts his serendipitous introduction to Bohm's work and how his philosophy bridges the gap between the physical sciences and deeper spiritual insights.
The discussion highlights Bohm's concept of the Implicate Order, the unfolding nature of reality, and the influence of quantum physics on our understanding of consciousness and existence.
This profound conversation brings science, philosophy, and spirituality together to offer new ways of understanding reality.
Learn more about Paul Howard
Listen to the full Talk here
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In this insightful discussion, filmmaker Paul Howard explores David Bohm's Hidden Variables Theory and how it challenges conventional quantum mechanics interpretations, such as the Copenhagen Interpretation and Many Worlds Hypothesis. Paul Howard breaks down the double-slit experiment, wave function collapse, and David Bohm's belief in a single wave function orchestrating the universe.
He emphasises Bohm’s unique approach to non-locality, quantum entanglement, and the potential for a deeper understanding of reality through the Hidden Variables Theory. Paul also touches on current scientific efforts at institutions like the University of Toronto and UCL in London, aimed at proving Bohm’s quantum potential.
Learn more about the ongoing research and how David Bohm's ideas resonate with both scientific and philosophical perspectives on the nature of reality.
Learn more about Paul Howard
Listen to the full Talk here
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Join Buddhist Scholar Geshe Tenzin Namdak as he delves into developing mental clarity through mindfulness meditation. In this discussion, Geshe Namdak explains how mental factors such as mindfulness and alertness play a crucial role in achieving concentration and clarity. He elaborates on Buddhist meditation techniques and the importance of mental factors in our daily practice.
Learn how to train your mind to stay focused and present, and discover the benefits of mental clarity for solving problems and achieving peace of mind. This video offers valuable insights for anyone interested in mindfulness and meditation.
Learn more about Geshe Tenzin Namdak
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Join Scott Snibbe, a renowned speaker and the founder of a Skeptics Path to Enlightenment, as he dives into exploring human consciousness through science and spirituality. In this enlightening session, Scott reflects on his early fascination with consciousness sparked by philosophical works and his subsequent discovery of Buddhist perspectives.
He critically examines the concept of consciousness through scientific and philosophical lenses, discussing theories from notable figures such as Daniel Dennett and David Chalmers. This video offers insight into the profound questions of human consciousness and its relation to our subjective experiences.
Watch the full talk here
Learn more about Scott Snibbe
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Join Zen teacher Vanessa Zuisei Goddard as she explores effective mind-training techniques inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings. This video delves into the metaphor of the mind as a garden, emphasising the importance of choosing which seeds (thoughts and actions) to nurture and which to let dry up.
Learn practical methods to cultivate positive thoughts and how to address unskillful ones using a simple mnemonic: SWITCH (Switch, Warn, Ignore, Trace, Chop). Discover the power of persistence, patience, and the transformative potential of meditation.
Learn more about Vanessa Zuisei Goddard
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Join Scott Snibbe in a thought-provoking Q&A session as he explores Buddhist philosophy, Consciousness & AI. In this conversation, Scott takes us on both an intellectual and experiential journey, exploring the intersections between mindfulness, technology, and consciousness.
Through the lens of Buddhist philosophy, Scott addresses questions on the nature of consciousness in relation to software and AI, the physical and non-physical aspects of the mind, and the transformative power of meditation and mindfulness in our digital age.
Watch the full talk here
Learn more about Scott Snibbe
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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In this video, Neuroscience Researcher Dr Ekaterina Denkova discusses effective mental health strategies for adaptive thinking. By exploring mental time travel and mindfulness, she reveals how our memories influence our future and the significance of staying present. She delves into the benefits and potential pitfalls of remembering and ruminating, demonstrating how mindfulness can help us break free from maladaptive thought patterns and enhance our well-being.
Join as she explores the dynamic interplay between memory, mindfulness, and brain function to improve mental health.
Learn more about Dr. Denkova Ekaterina
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In this video, Juan Santoyo explores the concept of the embodied mind in cognitive science and its profound connection to meditation practices. Drawing on the influential work of pioneers like Ben Thompson, Eleanor Roshan, and Francisco Varela, Juan discusses how the brain and mind are not isolated entities but are deeply intertwined with the body and environment.
This conversation highlights the importance of first-person methodologies in studying the mind and the emerging paradigm of contemplative science. Discover how the integration of meditation practices with scientific research is paving the way for new insights and understanding.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Neuroscientist Prof. Marjorie Woollacott, cognitive scientist Prof. John Vervaeke, and Swami Sarvapriyananda from the Advaita Vedanta tradition explore the Nature of Consciousness from diverse perspectives.
They discuss the Nature of Consciousness, its role in manifesting the universe, and the mind-brain complex's function as a filter of our perceptual experiences. They share Insights into meditation's impact on brain activity and its ability to expand awareness, offering a unique blend of scientific and spiritual viewpoints on consciousness and self-awareness.
This dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, host and producer of the meditation podcast ‘a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’.
This is an excerpt from a previous episode, listen to the full episode here.
Show notes:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 2:20: The Mind-Brain Complex
- 3:57: Consciousness & Light
- 5:52: Subjective vs Objective Reality
- 9:19: Meditation & Wisdom
- 12:56: Self-awareness
- 15:06: The Unchanging Nature of the Seer
- 18:01: Conclusion
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Prof. Anil Seth, a leading researcher in consciousness studies, delves into how our brains construct our perception of reality and self.
In "Consciousness and the Perception of Self" Seth challenges dualistic views, promoting a materialistic perspective that closely ties consciousness to brain processes. He describes our experience of reality as a 'controlled hallucination', crafted from diverse sensory inputs by the brain. Seth also touches on the relevance of quantum physics, suggesting a more nuanced understanding of matter and its relationship to consciousness.
This dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, host and producer of the meditation podcast ‘a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’.
This is an excerpt from a previous episode, listen to the full episode here.
Show notes:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 0:40: Brain's Role in Conscious Experience
- 1:09: Disputing Dualism in Consciousness
- 2:44: Consciousness as Organizational Function
- 3:40: Quantum Perspectives on Physical Reality
- 6:42: The Illusion of Self
- 10:38: Bodily Perceptions and Self-Identity
- 14:28: Qualia and Conscious Experience
- 17:45: Consciousness Science and Vitalism Parallel
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Satish Kumar, a peace pilgrim, activist, educator, and former Jain monk, along with journalist and author Vicki Mackenzie, delve into the realms of ecology, non-violence, and the path to true happiness.
Their conversation weaves through Satish's journey from monkhood to global activism, shedding light on how personal transformation and environmental consciousness are pivotal to societal change. Exploring the intricate ties between spirituality and activism, they reveal how living in harmony with nature and embracing non-violence can lead to a deeper sense of fulfilment.
This episode is part of the Lighthouse Dialogues, a collaboration between Science and Wisdom LIVE and Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.
This is an excerpt from a previous episode, listen to the full episode here.
Show Notes:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 0:42: Why People Die?
- 1:52: Becoming a Monk: Seeking Answers to Mortality
- 2:40: Understanding Death and Transformation
- 4:36: From Monkhood to Activism
- 4:52: The Peace Pilgrimage
- 5:37: Encounters of Compassion and Challenge
- 8:06: Philosophy of Non-Violence and Peace
- 10:31: Human Evolution and Consciousness
- 13:33: Nature and Spirituality
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Three contemplative scholars and practitioners – Rev. Cynthia Carter Perilliat, Dr. Eva Natanya, and Dr. Nigel Hamilton – explore the difficult topic of mortality. They will discuss how we can deal skilfully with the inevitable fact of death, and what can death and dying teach us about life and living.
Our speakers delve into the Tibetan Buddhist perspective of the Bardo, the Christian understanding of meeting the divine, and the universal experience of transitioning into a higher consciousness. Whether you're interested in the spiritual, psychological, or philosophical aspects of life and death, this conversation offers a rich tapestry of thought-provoking insights.
Listen to the full episode here.
show notes :
- 0:41 - Near-Death Experiences: An Overview
- 0:59 - Understanding the Bardo in Tibetan Buddhism
- 1:20 - Stages of Consciousness Loss According to Tibetan Buddhism
- 1:47 - The Experience of 'Fanaa' and Transitioning to Light
- 2:43 - Exploring Identity and the Concept of 'I' at Death
- 3:35 - The Cessation of Mental Consciousness in Deep Meditation
- 4:41 - Encountering the Ground Core Conscious Awareness
- 5:56 - Transition of Consciousness: A Christian Perspective
- 9:02 - After Death: Comparing Different Spiritual Traditions
- 13:35 - Sufi Perspectives on Death and the Unseen Light
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Author Vicki MacKenzie enters in conversation with John Butler, a modern mystic and meditator.
In this dialogue, John will share his life’s journey and his experience of the sacred through meditation, discussing how silence and stillness can lead to feelings of presence, love, and connection with the divine. The simplicity of his words speaks directly to the heart, inviting us to journey deeper towards an inner peace that we always carry within ourselves.
Listen to the full episode here.
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Deb Dana, Rob Preece, and Dr. David Robinson-Morris - discuss the nature of trauma and how we can deal with it in a skilful way that is healing and transformative. The dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, who is also host and producer of a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment.
Listen to the full episode here.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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In this Dialogue Geshe Namdak and Dr. Pim van Lommel discuss the origins of our conscious experiences, comparing the insights of Buddhist teachings with modern scientific research on Near Death Experiences. The dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, who is also host and producer of a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment,
Listen to the full episode here.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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Wendy Garling, Cynthia Bourgeault and Vicki Mackenzie discuss the transformative role of women in religious traditions. This is an excerpt of a previous Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, "The Buddha’s Mother & Mary Magdalene".
Listen to the full episode here
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Buddhism, Science, Compassion, and Climate: An Interview with Dr. Thupten Jinpa'.
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1360903/episodes/10389333
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
Our events touch upon specific themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
We believe that the dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can inspire positive action and inform an ethical response to the challenges of our times, grounded in the human values of cooperation, compassion and equality.
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Surviving the Climate Crisis, with Kim Stanley Robinson'.
Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGhtP_M2wII&t=531s
Subscribe to our newsletter: www.sciwizlive.com
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
Our events touch upon specific themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
We believe that the dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can inspire positive action and inform an ethical response to the challenges of our times, grounded in the human values of cooperation, compassion and equality.
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Deep Ecology, Mindfulness, and Climate Emergency'.
Watch the full episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU0FvOksk3s&t=2s
Subscribe to our newsletter: www.sciwizlive.com
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
Our events touch upon specific themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
We believe that the dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can inspire positive action and inform an ethical response to the challenges of our times, grounded in the human values of cooperation, compassion and equality.
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.sciwizlive.com
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Lighthouse Dialogue I - Vicki Mackenzie interviews Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo'.
Watch the full episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1360903/9913030-lighthouse-dialogue-i-vicki-mackenzie-interviews-jetsunma-tenzin-palmo.mp3?download=true
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Born in Britain, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo met her teacher, the eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche, in India in 1964. She was one of the first Westerners ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. After studying with her teacher for six years, she went to a small monastery in Lahaul, India, where she practiced more intensely. Seeking better conditions for meditation, she lived in a cave in the mountains in Lahaul for twelve years, after which, in 1988, she went to Italy.
She has taught Dharma internationally and is the founder of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Tashi Jong, India, where she now lives. Her life is the subject of the book Cave in the Snow, written by author Vicki Mackenzie.
In February 2008, Tenzin Palmo was given the rare title of Jetsunma, which means Venerable Master, by His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Head of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage in recognition of her spiritual achievements as a nun and her efforts in promoting the status of female practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
Our events touch upon specific themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
We believe that the dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can inspire positive action and inform an ethical response to the challenges of our times, grounded in the human values of cooperation, compassion and equality.
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Reawakening the Ecological Self', with Dr. Stephan Harding.
Listen to the full episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1360903/episodes/9754772
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Dr. Stephan Harding was born in Venezuela in 1953. After his first degree in Zoology at Durham University he was a field assistant for the Smithsonian’s field ecology research in Venezuela. His doctorate at the University of Oxford was on the behavioural ecology of the muntjac deer.
After teaching conservation biology at the National University of Costa Rica, he became a founder member of Schumacher College. Here he met James Lovelock – the originator of the Gaia hypothesis – with whom he has maintained a long-lasting friendship and scientific collaboration that lead to their joint appointment as founding chair holders of the Arne Naess Chair in Global Justice and the Environment at the University of Oslo.
Stephan is the author of Animate Earth: Science, Intuition and Gaia, and Gaia Alchemy, which was published in January 2022 by Bear and Co.
This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Reconnecting with Nature and our Inner Being'.
Watch the full episode here: https://www.sciwizlive.com/videos/david-loy-zen-ecodharma-interview/
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David R. Loy is a professor of Buddhist and comparative philosophy, a prolific writer, and a teacher in the Sanbo Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. His books include Money Sex War Karma, A New Buddhist Path, and most recently Ecodharma: Buddhist Teachings for the Ecological Crisis. He is especially concerned about social and ecological issues. In addition to offering workshops and meditation retreats, he is one of the founders of the new Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Retreat Center, near Boulder, Colorado.
In June 2014, David received an honorary degree from Carleton College, his alma mater, during its 2014 Commencement. April 2016 David returned his honorary degree, to protest the decision of the Board of Trustees not to divest from fossil fuel investments.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
Our events touch upon specific themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
We believe that the dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can inspire positive action and inform an ethical response to the challenges of our times, grounded in the human values of cooperation, compassion and equality.
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.sciwizlive.com
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sciwizlive
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'What's shame got to do with it?'.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Tenzin Chogkyi first became interested in meditation and Buddhism in the early 1970s, and became a student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist teachers in early 1991. Tenzin took novice ordination in 2004 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and completed several long meditation retreats over a six year period. Tenzin teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation within the FPMT network, and also teachers Cultivating Emotional Balance. She is passionate about social justice and interfaith work in addition to her Buddhist practice, and has been teaching in prisons for more than a decade.
Dr. Eve Ekman is a Senior Fellow at the University of California Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, Director of Cultivating Emotional Balance Training Program and volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Department of Pediatrics. Ekman draws from an interdisciplinary set of skills and knowledge from her professional work and personal practice in clinical social work, integrative medicine, emotional awareness, contemplative science, and meditation.
Ekman’s inspiration for research and training were inspired by her experience as a medical social worker in the emergency department of San Francisco General Hospital coupled with her training in emotion awareness and meditation intervention which she now leads: Cultivating Emotional Balance, CEB.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions.
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This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'Interdependence & the Nature of Reality'.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.sciwizlive.com/R
Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author of ninety technical papers and eight books, including The Science Delusion, and the co-author of six books. He studied natural sciences at Cambridge and philosophy at Harvard. As a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, he was Director of Studies in cell biology, and was also a research fellow of the Royal Society. He worked in Hyderabad, India, as Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and also lived for two years in the Benedictine ashram of Fr Bede Griffiths on the bank of the river Cauvery in Tamil Nadu. From 2005-2010, he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for the study of unexplained human and animal abilities, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California and of Schumacher College in Dartington, England. He lives in London. His website is www.sheldrake.org
This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'The Journey from the Mind to the Heart'.
Listen to the full episode: https://www.sciwizlive.com/podcast/the-journey-from-the-mind-to-the-heart-an-interview-with-fr-laurence-freeman-osb/
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Father Laurence Freeman OSB is a Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk of Monastery of Sta Maria di Pilastrello, in Italy, and the Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation.
After completing his studies in theology at the Universite de Montreal and at McGill University, he made his solemn monastic profession in 1979 and was ordained to priesthood in 1980. Together with his spiritual teacher, Fr John Main, he helped to establish Christian Meditation Centres in London and Montreal.
After the death of John Main, he continued teaching meditation, and in 1991 returned to England to establish the International Centre of the newly formed World Community for Christian Meditation, which is now present in more than a hundred countries.
Author of numerous articles and books on meditation and Christianity, he joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a series of dialogues, which inspired the book ‘A Good Heart’.
Before entering monastic life, Fr. Laurence studied English Literature at New College, Oxford University, and worked with the United Nations in New York.
This episode is an excerpt of a past Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, 'How Meditation Shapes Our Brain and Helps Us Deal With Negative Emotions'.
Listen to the full episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1360903/episodes/5925949
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In this interfaith dialogue moderated by Scott Snibbe, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Dr. Zachary Markwith, and Tenzin Chogkyi discuss how to process fear and anxiety, what are the differences between these emotions, and how we can deal with them in a skilful way through the wisdom of contemplative traditions.
Today, we share the second part of the dialogue on ‘Meditation, Consciousness, and the Pursuit of Wisdom’, which was released last month. Today’s episode is a Q&A session with Prof. Marjorie Woollacott, Prof. John Verveke, and Swami Sarvapriyananda.
The speakers discuss the interplay between self-inquiry, dialogue, and meditation; how meditation and contemplation can help us live more fulfilling lives by making us more deeply grounded in reality; and what’s the connection between the development of wisdom and the experience of non-duality.
To hear more about upcoming events, dialogues, e-courses, sign up to our newsletter and check out our website at www.sciwizlive.com.
Our guests today are neuroscientist Prof. Marjorie Woollacott, cognitive scientist Prof. John Verveke, and Swami Sarvapriyananda, a renowned teacher and scholar in the Advaita Vedanta tradition.
The speakers discuss the nature and function of consciousness, bringing together different perspectives from the cognitive sciences and various contemplative traditions. Drawing from their research and contemplative experience, they talk about the potential of meditation and mystical experiences, the nature of qualia, the fundamental ground revealed by deep meditative states, and how to develop greater wisdom and insight.
Today’s dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, host and producer of the meditation podcast ‘a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’.
The guest of today’s episode is Prof. Anil Seth, one of the foremost researchers in the field of consciousness studies. Interviewed by Scott Snibbe, the host of a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment, Anil Seth discusses the nature of consciousness and why, according to modern neuroscience, our perception of the self and of reality is like a hallucination. He also talks about the hard problem of consciousness, quantum mechanics, agency and free will.
Our guest today is Satish Kumar, peace pilgrim, activist, educator, and former Jain monk. He is the founder of Schumacher college and director emeritus of Resurgence and the Ecologist. He is interviewed by Vicki Mackenzie, British journalist and author, discussing his life, ideas, and the connection between ecology, activism and spirituality. This episode was recorded as part of the lighthouse dialogues, a collaboration between Science and Wisdom LIVE and Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.
Today, we share a meditation workshop offered by Scott Snibbe, the host and producer of the meditation podcast ‘A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’, and long-time collaborator of Science & Wisdom LIVE. Scott is a twenty-year student of Tibetan Buddhism, and leads meditations that infuse the pure lineage of the great Buddhist masters with science, humor, and the realities of the modern world.
This guided meditation session, inspired by ancient Buddhist techniques, helps us explore a precise series of steps that our consciousness may experience as we die, in order to probe the boundary of life and death with curiosity and wonder.
_____________
Scott Snibbe is a regular guest moderator of Science & Wisdom LIVE during talks and events. He is also the founder and host of the meditation podcast ‘A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’.
Snibbe is a twenty-year student of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachers include Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, Choden Rinpoche, Ven. Rene Feusi, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Inspired by his teachers, he leads meditations that infuse the pure lineage of the great Buddhist masters with science, humor, and the realities of the modern world.
Over the course of a career as a digital artist and entrepreneur, Snibbe has created bestselling art, music, and social apps, and collaborated with musicians and filmmakers including Björk, James Cameron, and Philip Glass. His interactive exhibits have been collected by both science and art museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
“[In death,] so many people experience – whether or not they had a religious conviction – the surrender to a state of consciousness, a state of being, so much greater than what they thought they were during this lifetime.”
Three contemplative scholars and practitioners – Rev. Cynthia Carter Perilliat, Dr. Eva Natanya, and Dr. Nigel Hamilton – explore the difficult topic of mortality. In this episode, they will discuss how we can deal skilfully with the inevitable fact of death, and what can death and dying teach us about life and living.
Drawing on the teachings of major religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Sufism, they will also talk about the transformations that our consciousness undergoes during the process of dying, and why meditating on death and impermanence can support our personal growth and the development of inner qualities.
This dialogue was recorded as part of our event on Death and Rebirth organised in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre, and it was moderated by Scott Snibbe, host and producer of the meditation podcast ‘A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’.
The interview was recorded LIVE during our recent event on ‘Death and Rebirth’. To hear more about upcoming events and courses, please visit our website www.scienceandwisdomlive.com and sign up to our newsletter, YouTube channel, and social media platforms.
Our guest today is Dr. Peter Fenwick, a neuropsychologist who carried out extensive research on near death experiences and the nature of consciousness.
Dr. Fenwick is a senior lecturer at King’s College London and the consultant neuropsychologist at both the Maudsley and John Radcliffe hospitals. He is also the president of the Horizon Research Foundation and president emeritus of the Scientific and Medical Network. In this episode of Science and Wisdom LIVE, he is interviewed by Venerable Fabienne Pradelle, the Director of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. They discuss our existential fear of death, Near Death Experiences and their connection with personal transformation, and the connection between consciousness and the brain.
The interview was recorded LIVE during our recent event on ‘Death and Rebirth’. To hear more about upcoming events and courses, please visit our website www.scienceandwisdomlive.com and sign up to our newsletter, YouTube channel, and social media platforms.
“The plain fact is that none of us understands these phenomena. As for the soul and life after death, they are still open questions, though I myself suspect that NDEs are part of the same continuum as mystical experiences.”
About our guest:
Dr. Peter Fenwick (born 25 May 1935) is a neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist who is known for his studies of epilepsy and end-of-life phenomena. Fenwick is a graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied Natural Science. He obtained his clinical experience at St Thomas’ Hospital.
Fenwick is a senior lecturer at King’s College, London, where he works as a consultant at the Institute of Psychiatry. He is the Consultant Neuropsychologist at both the Maudsley, and John Radcliffe hospitals, and also provides services for Broadmoor Hospital. He works with the Mental Health Group at the University of Southampton, and holds a visiting professorship at the Riken Neurosciences Institute in Japan.
Fenwick is the president of the Horizon Research Foundation, an organisation that supports research into end-of-life experiences. He is the President of the British branch of the International Association for Near-Death Studies. Fenwick has been part of the editorial board for a number of journals including the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, the Journal of Consciousness Studies and the Journal of Epilepsy and Behaviour.
Fenwick’s interest in near-death experiences was piqued when he read Raymond Moody’s book Life After Life. Initially sceptical of Moody’s anecdotal evidence, Fenwick reassessed his opinion after a discussion with one of his own patients, who described a near-death experience very similar to that of Moody’s subjects. Since then, he has collected and analysed more than 300 examples of near-death experiences. Fenwick argues that human consciousness may be more than just a function of the brain.
In this third interview of the Lighthouse Dialogues, author Vicki MacKenzie enters in conversation with John Butler, a modern mystic and meditator.
In this dialogue, John will share his life’s journey and his experience of the sacred through meditation, discussing how silence and stillness can lead to feelings of presence, love, and connection with the divine. The simplicity of his words speaks directly to the heart, inviting us to journey deeper towards an inner peace that we always carry within ourselves.
The Lighthouse Dialogues is a series of new events, organised in collaboration with Jamyang Buddhist Centre London and Science & Wisdom LIVE. Author Vicki MacKenzie interviews spiritual ‘lighthouses’, experienced contemplative practitioners whose wisdom and compassion could function as a lighthouse – a beacon of light and understanding – for our society.
The interviews will be focused on the inner experience of people who have dedicated their lives to genuine spiritual search, service, and meditation. We believe that the inner values and qualities developed through lifelong contemplative practice can be profoundly healing for our society and help us move beyond the crises that our world is facing today.
At first sight, John Butler is not one to make much of an impression. Quiet, soft-spoken and usually alone, he became known – in the 1970’s – as one of the first organic farmers.
Having, throughout his life also practiced meditation, 4 years ago, at the age of 79, he was recommended to ConsciousTV, a Youtube channel, focusing on those with experience of higher consciousness. Unwilling at first to face publicity, he was later persuaded to be interviewed. This has since become the most popular item on the channel with 2.5m views.
Soon after his debut on ConsciousTV, Phil Shankland found one of John’s books in a charity book sale in Sheffield, was interested, came to see him, and then decided to move and live nearby. Encouraged by success on Conscious TV, they decided to make some videos themselves. This developed into the Youtube Spiritual Unfoldment Channel, which presently has over 200,000 subscribers and 15 million views.
How has this happened? Though brought up with Christianity and familiar with it, John follows no particular teaching but speaks entirely from his own experience, using examples from nature and simple common sense. Liking the name ‘Mr Nothing’, he suggests to his followers, ‘Feel your feet on the ground – listen and look’. Practiced with attention, this brings the mind to rest – in silence, which may then expand into stillness or peace, spaciousness, freedom and an abiding sense of spiritual presence. Traditional religious teaching that, ‘The Lord is with us’ begins to come into real life experience.
Vicki Mackenzie is a British national journalist and author. She has written six internationally best-selling books including Cave in the Snow (Bloomsbury), featuring Tenzin Palmo; Reincarnation – the Boy Lama (Bloomsbury), featuring Lama Thubten Yeshe and Osel Hita Torres; and recently, The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi – British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun (Shambhala).
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Our events and podcasts explore the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the nature of consciousness, the ethics of artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.
Trauma can take different forms. One can speak of individual trauma, ancestral trauma, and collective trauma. All of these are happening on different, yet interconnected levels of (all!) our lives. Historically, the word ‘trauma’ comes from the Greek, and literally means ‘wound’ or can be taken in its active form of ‘to wound’. Although originally the word was taken to mean physical wounding, Sigmund Freud was the first (in his book Beyond the Pleasure Principle of 1920) who would use it in his psychological practice with patients to describe their psychological wounding. Currently, trauma is often defined by its response of fear, anxiety, a feeling of overwhelm, and symptoms like PTSD (Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder).
In other words, trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causes feelings of helplessness, diminishes their sense of self and their ability to feel a full range of emotions and experiences. It is also important to recognise that trauma does not discriminate and is pervasive throughout the world. A World Mental Health survey conducted by the World Health Organization found that at least a third of the more than 125,000 people surveyed in 26 different countries had experienced trauma. While there are no objective criteria to evaluate which events will cause post-trauma symptoms, circumstances typically involve the loss of control, betrayal, abuse of power, helplessness, pain, confusion and/or loss. The event need not rise to the level of war, natural disaster, nor personal assault to affect a person profoundly and alter their experiences. Traumatic situations that cause post-trauma symptoms vary quite dramatically from person to person. Indeed, it is very subjective and it is important to bear in mind that it is defined more by its response than its trigger.
In this episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE, 3 experts - Deb Dana, Rob Preece, and Dr. David Robinson-Morris - discuss the nature of trauma and how we can deal with it in a skilful way that is healing and transformative. The dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, who is also host and producer of a Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment, and will focus on topics such as the connection between psychological healing and contemplative practices, how to understand trauma through the lenses of polyvagal theory, and the relationship between individual and collective trauma.
Buddhist monk and scholar Geshe Tenzin Namdak enters in conversation with Dr. Pim van Lommel. After working as a cardiologist for 26 years in Rijnstate Hospital, Dr. van Lommel is doing full-time research on the relationship between brain and mind, and is one of the world’s leading experts on Near Death Experiences (NDEs).
In this dialogue, Geshe Namdak and Dr. van Lommel discuss the origins of our conscious experiences, comparing the insights of Buddhist teachings with modern scientific research on NDEs. They will also explore the relationship between consciousness and quantum phenomena, and explore the transformative power of NDEs and contemplative practices.
The dialogue is moderated by Scott Snibbe, host and producer of A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment.
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Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Our events and podcasts explore the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the nature of consciousness, the ethics of artificial intelligence, the climate crisis, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.
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Today’s episode is a dialogue between Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault and Wendy Garling, moderated by Vvicki Mackenzie. In this dialogue, they will discuss the role of two inspiring women in buddhism and christianity – Mahaprajapati, the woman who raised the Buddha, and Mary Magdalene – and reflect upon archetypal and symbolic figures of womanhood in contemplative traditions.
This dialogue was produced in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre to celebrate International Women’s Day 2022.
About our guests:
Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeaultis a modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, writer, and internationally known retreat leader. She is also a longstanding member of the Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW). She divides her time between solitude at her seaside hermitage in Maine and tending to a global network of students and practitioners. Her signature contribution to the Christian contemplative reawakening has focused on four main areas: 1) Centering Prayer; 2) The Christian Wisdom Tradition; 3) The Western Esoteric and Fourth Way traditions; 4) The Path of Conscious Love.
She has worked closely with fellow teachers and colleagues including Thomas Keating, Bruno Barnhart, and Richard Rohr, and is an emeritus faculty member of the Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation. Cynthia has actively participated in numerous inter-spiritual dialogues and events with luminaries and leaders such as A.H. Almaas, Kabir Helminski, Swami Atmarupananda, and Rami Shapiro.
Cynthia Bourgeault is a longstanding member of the Global Peace Initiative of Women (GPIW). For Cynthia’s most current writings, offerings, and her calendar of upcoming events please refer to her personal website: CynthiaBourgeault.org
Wendy Garling is a writer, mother, gardener, independent scholar, Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and authorized dharma teacher with a BA from Wellesley College and MA in Sanskrit language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of "Stars at Dawn: Forgotten Stories of Women in the Buddha’s Life", a ground-breaking new biography of the Buddha that relates his journey to awakening through the stories of Buddhism’s first women and The Woman Who Raised the Buddha. Her dream is to bring back the stories of Buddhism’s first women, reawaken their voices, and ensure that they are not just remembered, but valorised as integral to the roots of Buddhism.
Vicki Mackenzie is a British national journalist and author. In 1976, while working on The Daily Mail, she stumbled into her first Buddhist meditation course at Kopan, Nepal. This lead to an ongoing journey into Buddhism resulting in many articles for The Sunday Times, The Observer, Sunday Telegraph and many national magazines. She has written six internationally best-selling books including Cave in the Snow (Bloomsbury), featuring Tenzin Palmo; Reincarnation – the Boy Lama (Bloomsbury), featuring Lama Thubten Yeshe and Osel Hita Torres; and recently, The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi – British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun (Shambhala).
About Science & Wisdom LIVE:
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.
Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find Out More: www.sciwizlive.com
In this second episode of the Lighthouse Dialogues, author Vicki Mackenzie interviews Sister Jayanti Kirpalani, a spiritual teacher for over 50 years, who has dedicated her life to self-transformation and service to humanity. Sister Jayanti continues to champion the co-operative role of spiritual organisations in creating a just and peaceful world, bringing spiritual principles to the discussion tables of politicians, economists, business leaders, scientists and nearly every stakeholder of our times. Sister Jayanti sees the erosion of spiritual values as the underlying cause of the crises the world is facing today.
The Lighthouse Dialogues is a series of new events, organised in collaboration with Jamyang Buddhist Centre London and Science & Wisdom LIVE. Twice or thrice a year, author Vicki MacKenzie will interview spiritual 'lighthouses', i.e. inspiring and profoundly wise contemplative practitioners, who could function as a lighthouse – a beacon of light and understanding – for others. The interviews are accessible to the general public via LiveStream, and will also be recorded and made freely available on our Podcast and YouTube channels. Future guests of this series include Satish Kumar, former Jain monk and founder of Schumacher college, and John Butler, Christian contemplative and meditator.
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Sister Jayanti Kirpalani is Additional Administrative Head of the Brahma Kumaris. She is also the Director of Brahma Kumaris activities in Europe and the Middle East. The Brahma Kumaris is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) of the United Nations, accredited with General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Sister Jayanti is its representative to the UN in Geneva. Since 2009, she has led the Brahma Kumaris delegation to the UN Climate Change Conferences and spoken on many international platforms about spiritual perspectives on the environmental crisis.
As a spiritual teacher for over 50 years, Sister Jayanti has dedicated her life to self-transformation and service to humanity. She continues to champion the co-operative role of spiritual organisations in creating a just and peaceful world, bringing spiritual principles to the discussion tables of politicians, economists, business leaders, scientists and nearly every stakeholder of our times. Sister Jayanti sees the erosion of spiritual values as the underlying cause of the crises the world is facing today.
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Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Our events and podcasts explore the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find out more: www.sciwizlive.com
Our guest today is Dr. Thupten Jinpa, renowned Buddhist scholar and practitioner, chair of the Mind and Life Institute, and co-founder of the Compassion Institute. Dr. Jinpa holds a PhD in religious studies from Cambridge University, and served for decades as the Dalai Lama’s principal translator.
In this interview with Scott Snibbe, Dr. Jinpa talks about the relationship between science and Buddhism, discussing the role of critical thinking in contemplative practices and scientific inquiry. He also focuses on the powerful role of compassion, on how ethical principles can help us address the climate crisis, and on the key virtues that promote fulfilling relationships and a harmonious family life.
This episode is the fruit of a collaboration between Science & Wisdom LIVE and A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment. A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment draws on modern science and psychology to bring the ancient inner science of Buddhist meditation to twenty-first century people hungry for happy, meaningful lives. Find out more: www.skepticspath.org
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Thupten Jinpa Langri was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of Geshe Lharam (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity). Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985, he has been the principal English-language translator to the Dalai Lama. He has translated and edited many books by the Dalai Lama, including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Essence of the Heart Sutra, and Ethics for the New Millennium. Jinpa has published scholarly articles on various aspects of Tibetan culture, Buddhism, and philosophy, and books such as Songs of Spiritual Experience (co-authored) and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Thought. He serves on the advisory board of numerous educational and cultural organizations in North America, Europe, and India. He is currently the president and the editor-in-chief of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to translating key Tibetan classics into contemporary languages. He also currently chairs the Mind and Life Institute.
If you'd like to learn more from Dr. Jinpa's, he’s currently leading an online course at the Compassion Institute on Building Compassion from the Inside Out.
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Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Our events and podcasts explore the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find out more: www.sciwizlive.com
Our guest today is Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the greatest living science fiction writers and one of the few people to have developed a credible solution to the climate crisis. In this interview, he discusses with Scott Snibbe about transcendental experiences, Buddhism in his life and fiction, the outdoors as meditation, and the potentials for space exploration; but the main focus of this episode is the pressing issue of climate change. How can we survive the climate crisis, and what can every one of us do to help?
This episode is the fruit of a collaboration between Science & Wisdom LIVE and A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment. A Skeptic's Path to Enlightenment draws on modern science and psychology to bring the ancient inner science of Buddhist meditation to twenty-first century people hungry for happy, meaningful lives. Find out more: www.skepticspath.org
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“Daily life can be devotional, if you treat the world as sacred”
“We’re on the brink of starting a massive extinction event”
“Humanity is an expression of Earth’s biosphere”
“You should know your carbon burn the same way you know your weight on a scale”
“Spend more time outdoors than you usually do. It’s great for you, and it’s fun!”
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Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer. He is the author of more than 20 books, including the international bestselling Mars trilogy: Red Mars,Green Mars, Blue Mars, and more recently Red Moon, New York 2140, and 2312, which was a New York Times bestseller nominated for all seven of the major science fiction awards—a first for any book. 2008 he was named a “Hero of the Environment” by Time magazine, and he works with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute, the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, and UC San Diego’s Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination.
Stanley Robinson has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy awards. In 2016 he was given the Heinlein Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction, and asteroid 72432 was named “Kimrobinson.” In 2017 he was given the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society.
Find out more: https://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/
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Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Our events and podcasts explore the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find out more: www.sciwizlive.com
Can inner shifts in perspectives help us respond more skilfully to the climate and environmental crisis?
In this third Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogue, Dr. Vandana Shiva, Dr. Stephan Harding, and Dr. David Loy discuss the urgent topic of the climate emergency and environmental crisis. This Dialogue is a collaboration between Science & Wisdom LIVE and The Global Tree Initiative.
As scientists and activists warn us about the potential dangers ahead, new paradigms are emerging to help us navigate the challenges of our times. Deep Ecology invites us to experience (and act from) a deep feeling of our interconnectedness with the natural world. Similarly, contemplative practices (such as mindfulness and meditation) can deepen our sense of oneness with the living universe around us
Does a skilful response to the environmental crisis follow spiritual development and a more mature awareness of our interdependence with nature? And how can we act in the world without becoming depressed or feeling powerless in the face of climate emergency?
Dr. Vandana Shiva, Dr. Stephan Harding, and Dr. David Loy discuss the outcome of the recent COP26, how we can understand the climate emergency as a dysregulation of Earth’s self-regulation, and how the environmental crisis reflects a deeper crisis of values in Western civilization. They advocate a shift from a mechanistic understanding of the world towards a deeply spiritual science, inspired by the feeling of deep connection with the Earth, and talk about the kind of spiritual practices that help us cultivate our sense of belonging to the living planet and act selflessly, without attachment to the results of our actions.
Prof. Carlo Rovelli enters in dialogue with Geshe Tenzin Namdak on the connections between Buddhist philosophy, as exposed by the scholar scholar Arya Nagarjuna, and the discoveries of modern quantum physics.
This teaser is an excerpt of Science and Wisdom LIVE's upcoming e-Learning course on 'Buddhist Philosophy & Quantum Physics', which will be launched in the coming months in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre. Besides Dr. Rovelli and Geshe Namdak, the course will also feature Prof. John Dunne and Dr. Michel Bitbol.
Find out more on our website: https://www.sciwizlive.com/e-learning/
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Prof. Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum gravity. Born in Italy he has worked in the United States, France and Canada. He has founded the Quantum Gravity group at Aix-Marseille University. He is also a member of the Institute Universitaire de France, honorary professor of the Beijing Normal University, Honoris Causa Laureate of the Universidad de San Martin, Buenos Aires, and a member of the Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences. In 1995 he has been awarded the Xanthopoulos Award for “the best relativist worldwide under forty”. Prof. Rovelli has written several global best sellers among which are Seven Brief Lesson on Physics, which was translated in 44 languages, The Order of Time, and the recent Helgoland on quantum theory. He has been included by the Foreign Policy magazine in the 2019 list of the 100 most influential global thinkers.
Geshe Tenzin Namdak first worked as an environmental researcher having graduated in hydrology from Van Hall Larenstein University, The Netherlands. He started studying Buddhism at Maitreya Institute in 1993 and took ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama before engaging in his formal studies in Buddhist philosophy and psychology at Sera Jey Monastic University, South India, in 1997. He completed the entire twenty-year Geshe program at Sera Jey in 2017 and the traditional one year Vajrayana study program at Gyume Tantric College in January 2019, the first Westerner to do so. Because of his deep interest and background in science and as a member of Sera Jey’s Education Department he spoke on and organized various dialogues and conferences on contemporary science and ancient contemplative wisdom of the mind and its philosophy. Currently, he is the resident teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, and teaches worldwide.
Scott Snibbe is a pioneering interactive artist and augmented reality entrepreneur, is the host of the meditation podcast A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment. Snibbe is a twenty-year student of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachers include Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, Choden Rinpoche, Ven. Rene Feusi, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Inspired by his teachers, he leads meditations that infuse the pure lineage of the great Buddhist masters with science, humor, and the realities of the modern world. Over the course of a career as a digital artist and entrepreneur, Snibbe has created bestselling art, music, and social apps, and collaborated with musicians and filmmakers including Björk, James Cameron, and Philip Glass. His interactive exhibits have been collected by both science and art museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art and New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
About Science & Wisdom LIVE:
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.
Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find Out More: www.sciwizlive.com
In this first interview of the Lighthouse Dialogues, author Vicki Mackenzie enters in conversation with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo: a Buddhist nun who has taught Dharma internationally and is the founder of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Tashi Jong, India. Her life is the subject of Vicki Mackenzie’s book Cave in the Snow.
In this dialogue, Jetsunma and Vicki discuss how to connect our hart with our rational mind, what it means to be a monastic in the 21st century, how psychic pollution is as urgent as environmental pollution, and how to bring more mindfulness and joy into our lives.
The Lighthouse Dialogues is a series of new events, organised in collaboration with Jamyang Buddhist Centre London and Science & Wisdom LIVE. Twice or thrice a year, author Vicki MacKenzie will interview spiritual 'lighthouses', i.e. inspiring and profoundly wise contemplative practitioners, who could function as a lighthouse – a beacon of light and understanding – for others. The interviews are accessible to the general public via LiveStream, and will also be recorded and made freely available on our Podcast and YouTube channels.
About Our Speakers:
Born in Britain, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo met her teacher, the eighth Khamtrul Rinpoche, in India in 1964. She was one of the first Westerners ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. After studying with her teacher for six years, she went to a small monastery in Lahaul, India, where she practiced more intensely. Seeking better conditions for meditation, she lived in a cave in the mountains in Lahaul for twelve years, after which, in 1988, she went to Italy.
She has taught Dharma internationally and is the founder of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Tashi Jong, India, where she now lives. Her life is the subject of the book Cave in the Snow, written by author Vicki Mackenzie.
In February 2008, Tenzin Palmo was given the rare title of Jetsunma, which means Venerable Master, by His Holiness the 12th Gyalwang Drukpa, Head of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage in recognition of her spiritual achievements as a nun and her efforts in promoting the status of female practitioners in Tibetan Buddhism.
Vicki Mackenzie is a British national journalist and author. In 1976, while working on The Daily Mail, she stumbled into her first Buddhist meditation course at Kopan, Nepal. This lead to an ongoing journey into Buddhism resulting in many articles for The Sunday Times, The Observer, Sunday Telegraph and many national magazines. She has written six internationally best-selling books including Cave in the Snow (Bloomsbury), featuring Tenzin Palmo; Reincarnation – the Boy Lama (Bloomsbury), featuring Lama Thubten Yeshe and Osel Hita Torres; and recently, The Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi – British Feminist, Indian Nationalist, Buddhist Nun (Shambhala).
In this episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE, Scott Snibbe interviews Stephan Harding, Deep Ecology Research Fellow and founding member of Schumacher college
Stephan will discuss his work as an educator at Schumacher College, James Lovelock’s Gaia theory, and the role of intuition in scientific research and ecological thinking.
He will also discuss which kind of practices can deepen our connection with Nature and our experience of being part of the living planet.
Our guest today is Dr. David Loy, Professor of Buddhist and Comparative Philosophy, writer, and teacher in the Zen tradition of Japanese Buddhism. Together with Vandana Shiva and Stephan Harding, David will be one of the speakers at the upcoming Science and Wisdom dialogue on Deep Ecology, Mindfulness, and Climate Emergency on the 9th of December.
In today’s interview with Scott Snibbe, he discusses the necessity of engaging with the world and transcending duality as part of one’s contemplative practice; how Buddhism and other contemplative traditions change in response to the needs of the contemporary world; and how to respond appropriately to the challenges of our time, without falling into the extremes of indifference or despair.
They will also talk about the need to deepen our relation with, and love for, Nature and wilderness; how personal transformation is necessary in order to enable collective growth; and how Buddhism and other contemplative teachings can help us face what Noam Chomsky called "the most dangerous moment ever in human history".
Our guest today is Rob Hopkins, environmentalist, founder of the Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, author, artist, and host of the podcast ‘From what if to what next’. In this interview with Scott Snibbe, he talks about his work with the Transition Network, the relationship between one’s spiritual life and action in the world, and the potential of communities to promote positive change. He also discusses possible solutions to the current climate and ecological crises, the role of positive narratives, and the lessons that we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemics.
Scott Snibbe interviews Dr. Mark Westmoquette, Zen Buddhism teacher and Astrophysicist. During the episode, they discuss our connection with universe and how can reflecting on it can help us transcend duality and bring more meaning into our lives. This way of exploring interconnectedness is a key point of Zen Buddhist practice: as we look more closely to ourselves and our universe, the illusion of separation slowly fades away.
Most of us would do almost anything to avoid feeling shame, an emotion that creates a feeling that we are fundamentally flawed. Shame is a self conscious emotion - one connected to how we view ourselves through the eyes of others. Shame has an evolutionary purpose for sustaining social norms and can be seen in its most contemporary manifestations through “cancel culture.” Our other “self conscious” emotions contempt, disgust, and guilt — perpetuate the judgement and “othering” polarizing us from others and degrades our ability to engage with our full hearts of empathy.
In order to transform our shame we must see it closely and hold it with great care. Ven. Chogkyi and Dr. Ekman will unpack the scientific understanding of shame and consider its cognitive, emotional and somatic impact on our lived daily experiences. They will consider: is shame to be avoided at all costs? Is there any purpose to these emotions, do these emotions have any kind of a message for us? How can we learn to manage these emotions mindfully and with compassion?
Join Ven. Tenzin Chogkyi as she explores shame with Dr. Eve Ekman, a foremost emotions researcher. Dr. Ekman is the director of Cultivating Emotional Balance and has been exploring burnout, shame and other emotions in her teaching and research.
This episode was recorded during 'Healing the Body, Healing the Mind', a weekend of workshops and talks organised by Science & Wisdom LIVE in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre and Land of Medicine Buddha.
About Ven. Tenzin
Venerable Tenzin Chogkyi is a Buddhist monastic who first became interested in meditation and Buddhism in the early 1970s, and became a student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist teachers in early 1991. Ven. Tenzin took novice ordination in 2004 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and completed several long meditation retreats over a six year period. Ven. Tenzin teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation within the FPMT network, and also teachers Cultivating Emotional Balance. She is passionate about social justice and interfaith work in addition to her Buddhist practice, and has been teaching in prisons for more than a decade. She resides at Land of Medicine Buddha.
About Dr. Eve Ekman
Eve Ekman is a Senior Fellow at the University of California Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, Director of Cultivating Emotional Balance Training Program and volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Department of Pediatrics. Ekman draws from an interdisciplinary set of skills and knowledge from her professional work and personal practice in clinical social work, integrative medicine, emotional awareness, contemplative science, and meditation.
Ekman’s inspiration for research and training were inspired by her experience as a medical social worker in the emergency department of San Francisco General Hospital coupled with her training in emotion awareness and meditation intervention which she now leads: Cultivating Emotional Balance, CEB.
In today's episode, we will explore the rich and fascinating world of Sowa Rigpa, the Tibetan Science of Healing, and discover some of the ways that traditional medicine can help to revolutionise our approaches to health, personal and social wellness, and environmentalism. For years, scientists have been warning of an impending rise in zoonotic infections like Covid-19. A perfect storm of deforestation, global warming, widespread inequality, and disrespect for the ‘sensitive’ regions of the planet have forced us into a new and frightening era of uncertainty. But beyond tackling this singular epidemiological eruption, how can we truly heal on a deeper level?
800 years ago, the renowned yogi-physician Yuthok Yönten Gönpo composed a collection of texts that would come to represent the basis for all Tibetan medicine, seamlessly integrating cutting-edge Indian, Chinese, and Greco-Arabic medical developments with indigenous healing knowledge. Of particular interest is Tibetan Medicine’s unique theory of ‘provocation’ (Tib. gDon). Rooted in a deep and sophisticated indigenous understanding of the energies of the natural world, Tibetan scientists like Yuthok concluded that infectious diseases arise in part due to an imbalanced relationship with the natural world.
We will also explore Tibetan perceptions of rLung (‘wind’), a highly sophisticated and fascinating framework for conceptualising mind-body interactions, along with a simple traditional method for soothing excess rLung on your own. Together, these two concepts – rLung and gDon – illustrate two of the many ways that traditional medicine can help us to unite disparate fields of science, health, and philosophy to enter into a new age of revolutionary wellness.
This episode was recorded during 'Healing the Body, Healing the Mind', a weekend of workshops and talks organised by Science & Wisdom LIVE in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre and Land of Medicine Buddha.
About Erik Jampa Andersson
Erik Jampa Andersson, director and founder of Shrīmālā, is a Sowa Rigpa practitioner, SKI teacher, and meditation instructor with students and clients across the world. Erik is one of the few westerners to have completed a comprehensive education in the Gyu-Zhi (Four Tantras of Tibetan Medicine) as well as clinical training in Tibetan herbalism, dietetics, and manual therapies.
A Buddhist practitioner since age 14, Erik found an early home in the Tibetan tradition under the close guidance of Lama Tsultrim Allione, Tulku Sang-Ngag Rinpoche, and Khenpo Urgyen Wangchuk. After a stint in Tibetan Studies and Eastern Medicine at Naropa University, he completed the Shang Shung Institute’s Traditional Tibetan Medicine program between 2012-2017 and trained extensively under notable senior Amchis such as Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo, Dr. Namgyal Tsering, Dr. Nyima Tsering, and other Sowa Rigpa physicians in America and Asia.
"The first step in healing ourselves is becoming aware of our breathing and how we breathe, because that regulates all our bodily systems."
Today, Paula Chicester explores the healing power of our breath. She shares some simple exercises to connect with our breathing, reduce our levels of stress and promote healing in our minds and bodies. Finally, she leads a healing meditation techniques from Traditional Chinese Medicine, giving a taste of how the breath can connect the body with our inner world.
This talk is part of 'Healing the Body, Healing the Mind', a weekend of workshops and talks organised by Science & Wisdom LIVE in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre and Land of Medicine Buddha.
Can meditation help us to be more focused, reduce our negative emotions, and enhance our mental and physical wellbeing?
In this episode, Buddhist teacher Geshe Namdak explores the relationship between the mind and the body and discusses the three pillars of mind-training according to Buddhist philosophy: self-awareness, self-discipline and loving kindness and meditation. He also leads three short meditations to develop greater awareness and mindfulness of our body, feelings and mind. Finally, he explains how to employ analytical meditation to reduce the grasp of destructive emotions, addictive behaviour and unwholesome habits.
This talk is part of 'Healing the Body, Healing the Mind', a weekend of workshops and talks organised by Science & Wisdom LIVE in collaboration with Jamyang London Buddhist Centre and Land of Medicine Buddha.
Contemplative traditions suggest that the world as we perceive it is the manifestation of a deeper, unseen process, that can be investigated through meditation and personal inquiry. To what extent can this fundamental level be studied scientifically? And what can this investigation tell us about the nature of reality and consciousness?
Biologist Dr. Rupert Sheldrake and Buddhist teacher Geshe Tenzin Namdak will discuss how science and contemplative traditions can tackle big questions regarding the nature of reality, the interconnectedness of all phenomena and the relation between consciousness and the material world.
Our speakers will also touch upon David Bohm’s theory of implicate order and Dr. Sheldrake’s own hypothesis of formative causation, discussing the connections between these ideas and the insight achieved through contemplative practice.
About Our Speakers:
Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author of ninety technical papers and eight books, including The Science Delusion, and the co-author of six books. He studied natural sciences at Cambridge and philosophy at Harvard. As a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, he was Director of Studies in cell biology, and was also a research fellow of the Royal Society. He worked in Hyderabad, India, as Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and also lived for two years in the Benedictine ashram of Fr Bede Griffiths on the bank of the river Cauvery in Tamil Nadu. From 2005-2010, he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for the study of unexplained human and animal abilities, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. He is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California and of Schumacher College in Dartington, England. He lives in London. His web site is www.sheldrake.org.
Geshe Tenzin Namdak first worked as an environmental researcher having graduated in hydrology from Van Hall Larenstein University, The Netherlands. He started studying Buddhism at Maitreya Institute in 1993 and took ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama before engaging in his formal studies in Buddhist philosophy and psychology at Sera Jey Monastic University, South India, in 1997. He completed the entire twenty-year Geshe program at Sera Jey in 2017 and the traditional one year Vajrayana study program at Gyume Tantric College in January 2019, the first Westerner to do so. Because of his deep interest and background in science and as a member of Sera Jey’s Education Department he spoke on and organized various dialogues and conferences on contemporary science and ancient contemplative wisdom of the mind and its philosophy. Currently, he is the resident teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, and teaches worldwide.
About Science & Wisdom LIVE:
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre.
Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find Out More: www.sciwizlive.com
Copyright: Science & Wisdom LIVE, 2021.
"The clarity of the mind is nothing other than how you see, how you hear, how you feel… Yes, wisdom is transcendent, but you can open to it through the body"Welcome to this new episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE.
Our guest today is Jason Upton, an existential psychotherapist and senior lecturer at Regent’s University. Jason is also doing a PhD at SOAS on early Tibetan Buddhist practices which involve the body and sense perception. He has practised Kum Nye and other Tibetan movement practices for over 17 years.
Today, he enters in conversation with Scott Snibbe on ways to become embodied again. Jason will discuss his own experience with trauma, the benefits of Kum Nye, a Tibetan form of movement therapy, and his PhD research on the connection between the mind and the body.
Professor Basil Hiley, one of the foremost theoretical physicists of our time, enters in conversation with Scott Snibbe on the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics and his collaboration with David Bohm. In today’s episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE, they will discuss:
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The paradox of quantum mechanics and wave/particle duality
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Multiple interpretations of quantum mechanics: the standard interpretation, the multiverse and the quantum potential
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Bohm’s interpretation and the subtle action of the quantum potential
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Testing Bohm’s hypothesis experimentally
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Quantum processes are not mechanical but organic
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Implicate and explicate order and the nature of minds
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The creation of new concepts and process-oriented language
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Why ‘there is no particle, there is just process’.
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The role of observers and measurements in quantum mechanics
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How the quantum potential can bridge individual and collective
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Why we “can’t control nature, and if you think you can you’re going to cause disasters”
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Avoiding fragmentation: a wholistic approach to problem-solving
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Group dynamics and super systems
In this episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE, Scott Snibbe interviews Paul Howard, director of 'Infinite Potential: the Life and Ideas of David Bohm'. Together, they discuss the theories of David Bohm, one of the foremost theoretical physicists of the last century, and explore the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics and what modern physics can tell us about the nature of reality.
In this episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE, Marco Colnaghi and Sajda van der Leeuw interview visual artist and entrepreneur Scott Snibbe. Scott host and creator of the podcast on meditation ‘A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’ and has been the moderator of numerous Science & Wisdom LIVE events.
Today, Scott will share some advice about how to start a meditation routine and discuss the benefits of different meditation techniques. He’ll also discuss how to integrate one’s contemplative practice with professional and family life, sharing some of his insights and personal experiences as a visual artist and Buddhist teacher.
[0:42] From art and computer science to Buddhist philosophy
[8:20] A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment: a secular presentation of Buddhist thought
[17:59] How to begin meditating and develop a meditation routine
[30:21] Integrating contemplative practice into one’s professional and family life
[35:49] States of flow, art and creativity
[40:50] Awe, wonder and humility: can science enrich contemplative practice?[48:39] What if the Buddha were born today?
“[The purpose of meditation] is transforming your mind, making it more adaptive… and cultivating wisdom.”(Dr. Marieke van Vugt)
Today today we have with us Dr. Marieke van Vugt, a Neuroscientist from the University of Groeningen. In this episode of Science & Wisdom LIVE, Dr. van Vugt introduces the practices of analytical meditation and debate. She describes her experience with Tibetan Monks from Sera Jay University and the challenges of studying these practices scientifically. The last part of the podcast is a conversation between Dr. van Vugt and our audience which took place after her recent webinar. The evidence she presents shows that analytical meditation induces brain states associated with attention and focus and improves emotional regulation, validating scientifically the transformative potential of these ancient contemplative practices.
0:00 Introduction: Encounters between Tibetan Monks and Western Scientists
1:49 Meditation: familiarising your mind with wholesome habits
3:15 An Introduction to Analytical Meditation
8:21 The ‘rules’ of Monastic Debate
13:03 How can we study analytic meditation and debate scientifically?
15:14 Debate increases theta brain-waves, associated with attention and focus
18:02 Does monastic training improve emotion regulation?
21:03 The challenges and the fruits of doing science in the monastery
23:37 Q&A
"REM sleep evolved to integrate and process trauma… Dreaming it’s a pre-requisite for healing." (Charlie Morley)
Charlie Morley is a dream researcher and teacher of lucid dreaming, shadow integration and Mindfulness of Dream & Sleep. He has been lucid dreaming for over 20 years and was “authorised to teach” within the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism by Lama Yeshe Rinpoche in 2008. Since then he has written four books which have been translated into 15 languages and has run workshops & retreats in more than 20 countries.
In this podcast interview with Scott Snibbe, Charlie discusses the latest scientific research on dreams and how lucid dreaming can be used to deepen one’s spiritual practice, heal psychological trauma, and become more creative and insightful in one’s waking life.
THE DREAMING BRAIN: THE SCIENCE OF LUCID DREAMING
[1:11] Why do we dream? Are 'bad' dreams actually good?
[6:44] Lucid dreaming: directing and co-creating your dreams.
[11:20] The 3 D’s of becoming lucid: Dream recall, Dream diary, Dream signs.
[18:16] Cups made of mind: can dreams help us understand the nature of consciousness and reality?
[20:43] Does lucid dreaming give you a bigger brain? Insights from contemporary scientific studies.
[24:48] How (not to) waste your lucid dreams.
[27:56] Making the most of your dreaming practice: meditation, mindfulness and psychological healing.
[29:01] Trauma integration and lucid nightmares: healing PTSD in Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and integrating traumas.
[31:14] Asking big questions: accessing our ‘inner library of wisdom’.
[32:46] Researching lucid dreaming-induced healing: placebo effect and the nature of the mind.
[35:16] Lucid-dreaming for psychological work: embracing the Jungian shadow.
"Practicing in a lucid dream is like a laboratory for enlightened action, for enlightened wisdom, that will not only affect the third of your life you’re asleep, but directly impact the two thirds you’re awake."
"Knowing runs deeper than having information... We should orient our research in AI in a direction that promotes the creative freedom of human beings."
- Dr. Marco Schorlemmer
Why are AI systems so successful and widespread? How can we harness their potential to enhance human creativity and freedom? Is AI going to be our future saviour, or will it ultimately cause our extinction? Dr. Marco Schorlemmer explores these questions in our latest Science & Wisdom LIVE podcast episode:
THE ETHICS OF AI: A HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE
[0:00] Intro by Scott Snibbe
[1:11] Deep Learning and Neural Networks
[3:00] Will AI systems replace human expertise?
[6:20] Intelligence in Western thought: from Aristotle to AI
[9:37] "Intelligent" machines: number-crunching or information processing?
[10:37] The multidimensional nature of human intelligence
[14:26] Harnessing the potential of AI in the age of information
[17:18] Beyond information processing: embracing our creative freedom
[19:40] The contemplative core of scientific inquiry
[21:38] How can AI be at the service of ecological intelligence?
About the Speaker
Dr. Marco Schorlemmer is a Tenured Scientist at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA-CSIC) of the Spanish National Research Council and a member of the World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM).
About Science & Wisdom LIVE
The dialogue between scientific knowledge and contemplative wisdom has the potential to catalyse growth, resilience and positive change.
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre, bringing together scientists and contemplative practitioners of all faiths to address our society’s biggest challenges. Through dialogue and inquiry, it promotes the ideas of societal wisdom – the skilful use of our knowledge and experience to foster individual and collective well-being.
Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom, focusing on themes such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health.
Find Out More: www.sciwizlive.com
Two scientists, Dr. Elena Antonova and Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp, join two contemplative practitioners, Geshe Tenzin Namdak and Father Laurence Freeman, for a lively discussion on negative emotions and their possible solutions, moderated by Scott Snibbe.
The dialogue begins with an exploration of why we call certain emotions ‘negative’ or ‘destructive’, and how they can lead to patterns of behaviour that bring suffering to ourselves and others. The speakers discuss the possible antidotes to non-virtuous states of mind, and how contemplative traditions offer us practical tools to let go of the grasp of negative emotions.
Dr. Elena Antonova: “An accepted dogma on which a lot of our Western society is based, and which has dominated our baseline idea of the mental state, is the state of anxiety, survival, vigilance and separation (because we also perceive animals primarily as being in a relationship of predator and prey). However, some scientists suggest that we should entertain the possibility that serenity, contentment, and connectiveness is our primary baseline, but that this gets disturbed when we’re put in the state of flight or fight response.”
Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp: “We need to repattern these entrenched patterns that have been developed over the course of our lives – and potentially inter-generationally, which can be done in many ways. We are learning about neuroplasticity and neural pattering, and that there’s a capacity of the brain to change. We need to reactivate a pattern that’s already there, and then carve a different path, which comes close to contemplative traditions where we have to sit with negative emotions, and where we learn about the role of acceptance and how to lovingly embrace what’s happening to us, after which we can start to create a different pathway or outcome.”
Father Laurence Freeman: “There’s a variety of spiritual practices, centred in meditation, that can release us from the pattern of the hold of these negative emotions over time, with support from others… Essentially, as the Buddhist would say, we have Buddha nature, or as the Christian would say, we are in the image of God. We are a living icon of the Divine. Yet we need to build up a likeness to God, over a lifetime, through becoming aware of ourselves and our problems, and also hoping (and later on trusting) that at the core of our being is an essential goodness, compassion and virtue.”
Geshe Tenzin Namdak: “We have a potential of the mind, which Father Laurence mentioned is like icon nature, but then there is obscuration, the ‘clouds’ that obscure that nature. So we need to first find acceptance of the problem, without getting involved in it (as a neutral observer), which will lead to acceptance and the ability to observe instead of engaging with destructive emotions. Then we can start to have an intention for change and repattern our mind accordingly – we then have a freedom before any emotional ‘hijack’ sets in.”
Science & Wisdom LIVE, the new project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre, brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions. The Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogues are based on the ideas of societal wisdom: the deliberate use of human knowledge and experience to cultivate well-being. As a long-term series, these dialogues aim to enrich our insight, wisdom, and understanding of mind and life. Each dialogue touches upon specific sub-themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health. www.sciwizlive.com
Two scientists, Dr. Elena Antonova and Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp, join two contemplative practitioners, Geshe Tenzin Namdak and Father Laurence Freeman, for a lively discussion on negative emotions and their possible solutions, moderated by Scott Snibbe.
The dialogue begins with an exploration of why we call certain emotions ‘negative’ or ‘destructive’, and how they can lead to patterns of behaviour that bring suffering to ourselves and others. The speakers discuss the possible antidotes to non-virtuous states of mind, and how contemplative traditions offer us practical tools to let go of the grasp of negative emotions.
Dr. Elena Antonova: “An accepted dogma on which a lot of our Western society is based, and which has dominated our baseline idea of the mental state, is the state of anxiety, survival, vigilance and separation (because we also perceive animals primarily as being in a relationship of predator and prey). However, some scientists suggest that we should entertain the possibility that serenity, contentment, and connectiveness is our primary baseline, but that this gets disturbed when we’re put in the state of flight or fight response.”
Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp: “We need to repattern these entrenched patterns that have been developed over the course of our lives – and potentially inter-generationally, which can be done in many ways. We are learning about neuroplasticity and neural pattering, and that there’s a capacity of the brain to change. We need to reactivate a pattern that’s already there, and then carve a different path, which comes close to contemplative traditions where we have to sit with negative emotions, and where we learn about the role of acceptance and how to lovingly embrace what’s happening to us, after which we can start to create a different pathway or outcome.”
Father Laurence Freeman: “There’s a variety of spiritual practices, centred in meditation, that can release us from the pattern of the hold of these negative emotions over time, with support from others… Essentially, as the Buddhist would say, we have Buddha nature, or as the Christian would say, we are in the image of God. We are a living icon of the Divine. Yet we need to build up a likeness to God, over a lifetime, through becoming aware of ourselves and our problems, and also hoping (and later on trusting) that at the core of our being is an essential goodness, compassion and virtue.”
Geshe Tenzin Namdak: “We have a potential of the mind, which Father Laurence mentioned is like icon nature, but then there is obscuration, the ‘clouds’ that obscure that nature. So we need to first find acceptance of the problem, without getting involved in it (as a neutral observer), which will lead to acceptance and the ability to observe instead of engaging with destructive emotions. Then we can start to have an intention for change and repattern our mind accordingly – we then have a freedom before any emotional ‘hijack’ sets in.”
Science & Wisdom LIVE, the new project of Jamyang London Buddhist Centre, brings meditation practitioners in conversation with scientists to address the problems of contemporary society and come to new possible solutions. The Science & Wisdom LIVE dialogues are based on the ideas of societal wisdom: the deliberate use of human knowledge and experience to cultivate well-being. As a long-term series, these dialogues aim to enrich our insight, wisdom, and understanding of mind and life. Each dialogue touches upon specific sub-themes where science and contemplative traditions intersect, such as the ethics of artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation for mental health. www.sciwizlive.com
Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp is the Science Director of the Mind & Life Institute. Her research in contemplative neurosciences focused on the impact of meditation on brain activity and was deeply influenced by her meditation practice and experience.
Interviewed by Scott Snibbe, Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp will talk about:
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Reconciling a Christian background with a scientific mind-set and education
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The joy and the challenge of communicating complex ideas
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Neural circuits and recurrent behaviour: why it is so hard to break habits, and how contemplative practices can help
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How a contemplative perspective can benefit scientific research in psychology and neuroscience and help us understand the human mind
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What’s the difference between empathy and compassion?
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Healing disconnection with others and with the planet: how meditation can nurture feelings of compassion, prevent othering and help to shift implicit bias.
From the interview:
“Brains are constrained by energy flow, and because of that we’re wired to do things in the most efficient way at the cellular way; that’s why we have habits and find it so hard to break habitual patterns because they are the energetically easiest things for our brains to do. When you’re sitting still and being quiet, you are cutting out a lot of the ‘energy suck’ of your life. So you’re able to access all this extra energy that can be used for mental and physical transformation, which are two sides of the same coin.”
“Science has such a tradition of being able to question everything and continually revise itself, but at the same I feel science doesn’t have all the answers so I continue to hold that spiritual interest and investigation”
“We’re trying to understand the human mind. To me, [science and spirituality] are two different and extremely complementary ways of doing that, and they inform each other in important ways."
“If we understand how we construct our sense of ‘self’ and ‘other’ in our minds, we can then transform our self-concept to include others and realise what’s happening when we look at another person and we categorise them as ‘others’. “What our minds naturally do is categorise, but you can also see through that and create a more shared humanity. Up to the level of the planet: there’s a disconnection from the planet and the natural world, which is obviously a big part of climate change denial and why we’re not addressing the most major issue that we’re facing right now”.
“Meditation is the prayer of the heart, what the early Christian monks called pure prayer... Many people speak about meditation as a feeling of coming home.”
How can meditation restore our sense of wonder and help us forge communities and meaningful relationships? Is there any difference between meditation and prayer? What is the role of contemplative practices in a technologically advanced society?
Fr Laurence Freeman, Benedictine monk and director of the World Community for Christian Meditation, joins us today to discuss some important insights from his spiritual search and meditation practice. Together with Scott Snibbe, he explores the potential of meditation to nurture and heal communities and relationships, to re-awaken our sense of wonder and help us journey from our minds to our hearts.
"The idea that humans have failed and need to improve themselves using biotechnologies, or the fear to be taken over by AI, are disturbing ideas, and they are deeply undermining of human dignity and human wonder. Meditation has the great capacity to re-humanise us and restore our sense of wonder."
*"We need to remember the primacy of the human, and this means a partnership between contemplative scientists and scientifically respectful spiritual teachers and seekers; and it’s a partnership which will be mutually beneficial and at the heart of it there’s this extraordinary capacity for a contemplative practice seriously faithfully practiced to re-humanise us and to help us to love and revere the humanity in each other."
“Everything that I call 'my prayer' has to be surrendered, together with everything else that I call mine, as the ego gets gradually laid aside. What’s left is 'the' prayer, or the Spirit, which is God as communion of love, dynamism of creativity and transcendence... Meditation is our way into that prayer, by making the journey from the mind to the heart.”
---On the 11th of November, Fr. Laurence will join Geshe Tenzin Namdak, Dr. Elena Antonova and Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp* to discuss how scientific research and meditation techniques can help us to deal with destructive emotions in these challenging times.
Join this Science & Wisdom Live dialogue on Zoom on the 11th of November, at 7 pm GMT (London time).
Reserve your ticket here and subscribe to our newsletter.
“Contemplative practice could educate science, bring it out of scientism and back to its essence. A lot of scientists would benefit from this training of staying with the question and not jumping straight to an answer.” – Dr. Elena Antonova
How can meditation and scientific research help us to better understand the nature of our minds? What is the relationship between consciousness and the brain? Is the deep-rooted belief that “we are our brains” a scientific truth, or just a reductionist assumption?
In this ‘Meet the Speaker’ interview with Scott Snibbe, Dr. Elena Antonova shares some of the key events that led her to become an academic researcher in the field of contemplative neurosciences. She discusses how her research on mindfulness and meditation is strongly informed by her own practice and experiences, and how contemplative practices can rescue science from the limitations of reductionist views.
On the 11th of November, Dr. Elena Antonova will join Geshe Tenzin Namdak, Father Laurence Freeman and Dr. Wendy Hasenkamp to discuss how scientific research and meditation techniques can help us to deal with destructive emotions in these challenging times.
Join this Science & Wisdom Live dialogue on Zoom on the 11th of November, at 7 pm GMT (London time).
Reserve your ticket here and subscribe to our newsletter.
"If we grasp at a problem, it only becomes more intense. We all have problems, but a lot of mental suffering can be prevented by using particular meditation techniques." - Geshe Tenzin Namdak
In this first 'Meet the Speaker' Interview, Scott Snibbe and Geshe Tenzin Namdak discuss how meditation shapes our brain through neuroplasticity, helping us deal with negative emotions.
They also explore the common ground between quantum physics and Buddhist philosophy and mind-science, referring to Bohm's theory of implicate and explicate order and the Buddhist view of ultimate reality. Finally, they discuss how the dialogue between science and contemplative traditions can help us address the great challenges of our society.
Welcome to Science & Wisdom LIVE, where scientists and meditators meet.
Science & Wisdom LIVE brings meditation practitioners together with scientists to discuss society’s biggest challenges. Each dialogue explores the middle ground between science and contemplative wisdom. On the podcast, you’ll hear world experts on science and meditation debate on artificial intelligence, gender equality, climate change, mindfulness, and mental health.
Subscribe now on your favourite podcast player or on www.SciWizLive.com.